Friday, March 21, 2008

Be-Lated Birthday Post!!!


Finally!!!
The 1 Year Birthday Bash(es)!!!

We were way too sad to think of Jake not being here for the chicks 1 Year Old Birthday Party! So we had a little one before he left for Paris and then another on their actual Birthday, which embarrassingly was clear back on February 10th!! Sorry we are so belated, but better late than never, right?!

Presents!!

Birthday Girls!! Sam left, Sadie Right

Poor Samantha had pink eye!!

A Great Big Thank You to my cute Mom who made these adorable little cakes for the girls!

I don't think the girls quite knew what to do with the cake! Sadie is not looking real thrilled!!

Sadie's Cake Face!

Samantha's Cake Face!!

We are so glad we were able to party with Jake! As you can see, he is the life of the party!!

These are the pics from the party on their actual Birthday! Thanks to Jake's parent's, they made a delicious dinner! Now this time it was Sadie who wasn't feeling too hot! Poor Girls!

Sadie Left, Samantha Right

The girls along with their cute cousin Hailey, playing a little Birthday Ditty!!

Sam thoroughly enjoying the Birthday cake this time!!

Sadie, definitely NOT!

Me and My Girls!! Samantha left, Sadie Right

I cannot believe how fast this first year of their lives has gone by!! It has been so much fun! I cannot believe how much I love these girls!! It overwhelms me just thinking about it! I definitely feel like I have learned a lot, but have SO much more to learn about patience and mothering skills!!! I also have to say how wonderful it has been being in this parenting-ship with Jake, he is such a fun Daddy, and an amazing example to me of patience and fun lovingness!! (He will love that I am using words from my own vocabulary)! I have to say, it honestly has not been as hard as I thought it would be............. until now!! I will admit, it has gotten a little harder and more overwhelming from time to time!! But, I still love it!! And would not trade this wonderful experience for anything!! Thanks to all of you, who have helped us out so very very much!! I would not have made it through this first year without you!!!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

WE HAVE ARRIVED!!

OKAY, I will start by apologizing for the HUGE delay in posting!! 2 Add'l Bags (pak 'n plays), 2 Overweight Bags and 2 Regular 50 lb bags, 2 Strollers, a carryon chuck full of baby food, Big Ziploc Baggies full of formula (I promise, it really is just formula, this is what I had to tell the security man as I got pulled over for this crazy amount of baby stuff!) It was crazy and exhausting, BUT WE MADE IT!!! And to report, the flight was not too bad! The girls did really well! Thanks to an amazing flight attendant, bulkhead seating and Benadryl! Sadie was amazing, she slept for most of it, Samantha had a little bit of a rough time, but it was so funny in the morning as everyone was hitting up the bathroom right by us, they all would pass by and say, "Your babies were amazing, I was worried when I saw you sitting there, but these must be the best babies I've ever flown with! Only a few little peeps!!" So I am very proud of them! Also Thanks to Melo and all of her assistance, too bad Melo and I didn't get any shut eye! We were definetly feeling Jet Lagged when we got here!! But it seems like we have finally adjusted!!

So the reunion with Jake was Fabulous!! It's hard to express how great it was to see him and have him see the girls and get us all reunited again!! I really don't know how military couples do it! The girls seemed maybe a little confused for a minute, but warmed right up!! We were quite the spectacle going through the airport with our mountain of luggage, we had some interesting experiences with the language right off the bat! As we were heading through the cattle herd of Immigration we were being summoned by airport workers but could not understand what they wanted us to do!! So we just stayed where we were feeling stupid, then another worker came up and atleast led us around to where he wanted us to go, it was the beginning of a rude awakening of just how awesome it would be to know French!!! I have got to get studying!

So here are some of the highlights so far!! The apartment itself is great, although there are a few things that are going to take a bit to get used to! I will actually take some pics to show you the funny things and to just show you around the place, I will save that for the next post!

So we got right out and saw some of the sites:

As you can see, it has been pretty cold here and rainy!! I can't imagine how much more fun it will be when it warms up! So far the girls don't seem to mind being bundled up, for the most part anyway!

The Eiffel Tower so far is my Favorite!! I love it so much when it does this glittery light thing!
It does it once every hour or 1/2 hour or so! It is so fun!

Notre Dame

We downloaded these cool podcasts to our IPOD's so it is like a self guided tour, it is good info and it helps you get more out of it!

That is Pont Neuf in the background, from where we are standing there is another awesome view of The Eiffel Tower!

Poor Sadie Janie!! So... since we have been here I think Sadie has got 3 goose eggs and then this one was a real Doozie!! It breaks my heart everytime I look at her! Our apt. has all hard wood floors, which is not ideal for the fact that the girls are learning to walk! This one was a run in with one of the rugs, CARPET BURN!!! This actually looks a lot better than it did at first! I swear I thought she broke her nose, it was so much more swollen and red!! It has been so sad, whenever we get on the metro you can see everyone staring at her racer striped nose and talking about it!! Thank Goodness she is a tough chick!!

This is Samantha already learning to love the Baguette's! Yummy!! I have to give a shout out to the croissants as well, they are my personal favorite!!

So hope that gives you an idea of what we are up to! I will hopefully be able to get some better pics once it warms up! I miss the sunshine!! We are having a great time, there have been some experiences that make me so grateful for the U.S.A.! I can tell it is going to be quite an adventure! That picture of Samantha and the baguette actually was our first and probably last time trying to eat out at a restaraunt!! Jake and I realized this as we looked across the table at each other fighting to keep the babies from falling underneath the table or taking everything on the table with them, or throwing little rocks at the neighboring tables!! You just take things for granted, like walking into a restaraunt and just expecting they would have highchairs, or atleast being able to communicate that we needed some! It might just be that we dont' know the right places to go, but so far it has not been quite as kid-friendly as I had hoped! The metro is awesome, except for all the stairs that we have to hoist the strollers up and down over and over!! It will be interesting to see how Jake and I figure out to get around by ourselves with the girls!! But that just makes it all the more adventurous, memorable and exciting, right?! Thanks to Melo and Eric and how much help they have been! We are so glad to have been able to see everything we have!! I am so glad Jake came first and got things all figured out! The little French he knows he can fake very well!

We miss you all!! And I promise to be on the ball and post often now that we are settled!!

AuRevoir, for now!!